A Case Against Sequins
by RRSherlock
Summary: Complete: Someone from Martin's past threatens the present. He saved Samantha once, can he do it again? Completely MS.
1. Email

A Case Against Sequins

Disclaimer: I don't own WaT (wahhh!). I don't own the characters (double wahhh!), so go pick on somebody else!

Set sometime in the near future (post season 5).

CHAPTER 1 - Email

Martin watched Sam leave the office; her shoulders slumped in weariness from the past few days. They had been searching for a seven-year-old boy who wandered away at a park during a family picnic. Three days later the team found his body half-buried behind the park's maintenance shed, one of the park ranger's bloody handprints clearly on the boy's torso.

He knew she had taken the case hard, hell, they all did. Kids had their own special way of getting to the Missing Persons unit. It was easily understandable for Jack, Vivian and Elena—they had kids. But for Danny and Samantha, their own difficult childhoods made them ache for missing children. Martin's heart contracted a little thinking about how he and Samantha had to break the news to the parents. The little sister kept crying for her brother and that tore at him as well. He closed the files on the desktop and shut his computer down for the night. Once again, he was the last agent leaving the office.

The next morning, Martin noticed Sam's desk was still clean. Danny and Elena were working on paperwork and Vivian and Jack were in his office. But where was Sam?

"Danny? You guys seen Samantha yet this morning?" Martin asked, walking to his desk.

Elena shook her head, "Not yet. She say anything last night?"

"Not to me, she just looked bushed," Martin replied, turning on his computer. Moments later it pinged at him loudly. 'Hmm, new messages,' he thought to himself. He clicked the first message and cursed loudly enough to stop Elena from arguing with Danny.

"What's the message, brother?" Danny asked with concern.

"Look!" was Martin's only reply, pointing at the screen.

A short movie was playing, it was Samantha, dressed in a sparkling pink magician's assistant's costume, tied to a wheel, hand and foot, and blindfolded. There wasn't an audio track, but for Danny, Elena and Martin, the metal whiz and the heavy thunk of the knives as they flew at Sam and imbedded themselves in the wood played loudly in their minds. They could see Samantha's mouth opening, she was asking for whoever was throwing the knives to stop. Suddenly the short movie stopped and a message popped up: 'Fitzgerald, I'm playing games with your girl 'cause you played games with me!' Then the screen went black.

"I'll go get Viv and Jack," Elena whispered.

"Can you play it again?" Danny asked.

Martin reached for the mouse, "I think so."

Jack and Vivian joined the rest of the team and Martin played the movie again. His face drained of all color and his stomach tightened. Who would do such a thing? The logical, thinking part of his mind raced trying to think of any criminal he 'played' with who would seek such revenge. While the emotional part of his mind wondered why this sicko would think he and Sam were still together. They had ended it long ago. Yes, they were friends. Yes, they were colleagues. But boyfriend/girlfriend?? Nope! That was long over. Sure, he wished they weren't, but what could he do? If it didn't work, it didn't work, life went on.

Jack interrupted Martin's racing mind, "Any ideas who this could be?"

Martin swallowed hard and looked up at his boss, "Not yet, but I'll start looking."

Jack turned to the rest of his team and started assigning jobs, "Elena, check out all of Sam's movements starting from when she left here last night. Danny, get this over to Tech, see if they can figure out where it was sent from. Viv, help Martin check his old files, see if you can dig up any possible suspects. I'm going to Van Doren."

The team split, quiet in their pursuits, their thoughts on Samantha and how close those last few knives had come.

_8 hours missing_

An hour after receiving the message, the team assembled in the bullpen. Samantha's FBI photo had been placed on the board and Elena had started listing her movements.

"Front desk has her logging out at 8:56pm last night," Elena began, pointing to the line she had drawn. "Then from the garage at 8:59pm. Her apartment is about fifteen minutes from here, and her garage code was punched in at 9:16 pm."

"So far, so good," Jack commented.

Elena nodded, "Yes, but then things aren't so good after that. There's a doorman, who doesn't leave until midnight, and he remembers seeing Samantha last night…"

Flashback

"_Good Evening Ms. Spade!"_

"_Hiya George, how's the family?" Samantha always asks, even when she's tired._

"_They're good! They're good! Evan just got his letter from NYU, he starts next fall. Wants to be a writer," George shook his head, "How's a man to support a family on that kind of work?"_

_Samantha smiled, "People do it all the time! Look at Stephen King!" The elevator pinged and Samantha added one more piece of advice, "Besides, it's safer than wanting to be a director!" _

End flashback

"So, she made it home. What's wrong about that?" Danny asked.

Elena made a face, "There's more…"

Flashback

_George was just about done for the night. It was nearly midnight and he could finally go home. Most of the tenants were home for the evening, except those who worked the swing shift, but he didn't have to worry about them, Patrick took over and had the midnight to eight am shift. He heard the elevator ping and looked up expecting Patrick, instead he saw Ms. Spade._

"_Ms. Spade, you aren't going out at this hour, are you?" George knew her job sometimes asked strange hours from her, but he had never known her to leave so late in the evening._

_Samantha sighed, "Yeah, I just got a call. Why can't people go missing during the day?"_

_George echoed her sigh, "I hear you! But you need to take it easy, Ms. Spade. You work too hard!"_

_Samantha gave him a tired smile and nodded, "On that point, I agree with you!"_

End flashback

"And her car is still there!" Elena exclaimed. "I got tech working on her cell and house phone. We should know soon who called her."

Jack nodded, "Danny, any word on the email?"

"Yeah, but it's not good. Tech traced it back to a dead email, probably set up and taken down just before and just after the creep sent it," Danny was disgusted with the lack of evidence his search had uncovered. This was his best friend missing and he couldn't get any leads!

"Good work Danny. That at least rules out something," Jack knew he had to encourage the younger agent, the lack of leads was disheartening, especially in this case. "Elena, is there any surveillance footage from the garage?"

She shook her head, "No. The tape ran, but nothing recorded. It's just static."

Jack sighed deeply, "All right, Martin? Viv? Anything?"

Martin and Vivian exchanged looks before Vivian nodded for him to speak. "Yeah, I think we found something."


	2. Background Check

Disclaimer: I still don't own WaT (wahhh!). I still don't own the characters (double wahhh!), so go pick on somebody else!

Warning of foul language—don't be offended—bad guys often swear.

Thanks Casey08 for your review!!

CHAPTER 2 - Background Check

_8.5 hours missing_

Martin pulled out three worn file folders, "Two of these are from my White Collar days. This one," Martin opened the top file, "was my first case in Seattle as lead investigator. Charlie Soltay, busted for check fraud and passport forgery. He's currently serving a life sentence, but I used his brother to frame him."

Jack reached over and scanned the file, "And where is the brother now?"

"Don't know just yet," Viv replied, "Rusty's last know address went under ten feet of water when a stream flooded last fall in Western Washington. We should have an answer from the Seattle office by the end of their day."

"This next one almost made me look for a shoe-salesman job. I didn't know people could be so…so…evil to each other," Martin shuddered at the memory of the case. "Ray Ashlem thrived in the underworld. He never got his hands dirty—unless you count the money. He set up such a complicated system of transferring the money from one bank, one state, one country to another that it took us almost three years to get enough info to put him away. But away he went, thanks to his girlfriend."

"You played her?" Danny asked.

"I guess you could call it that," Martin replied, running his fingers though his hair. "I mean, I got her to wear a wire and seduce him, but that was what she did all the time—well the seducing part anyway," he exchanged a quick grin with Danny before becoming serious again.

"This case, from Violent Crimes, has the most potential, I think," Martin flipped open the folder and spun it around so everyone could see the photos. A young woman, bound and gagged to a chair, was dressed in a sequined gown. She was dead. The photo opposite was a prison mug shot. "This was the case that brought me to New York. Leon Towers started in Seattle as a rapist, but when he moved to NYC, he became a murderer. I was asked to work the case because I know one of the victims from Seattle—she was my partner, Shelly Michaels," Martin swallowed hard and continued, "Leon's mother was a Reno show girl. She always wanted to work on Broadway, but never made it out of her hometown. Leon never knew his father; I doubt his mother ever knew who he was. So, I followed him to New York, joined the team here, we built our case and then had to go track him down and bring him in," Martin stopped talking. He could see the interrogation room clearly in his mind.

/Flashback/

"_Martin," Paul Williams pulled his attention from the two-way mirror, "I know you only joined our team because you knew how Towers operated, but I think you should be the one to start questioning him."_

_Martin looked at the older, wiser, more experienced agent, "R-really? I-I mean, you're better at this than I. You know how to get them talking. You kn-"_

_Paul stopped him with a look, "We didn't get here by me doing all the work myself. You know how he works. You know Shelly," Paul put a hand on the younger agent's shoulder and looked him straight in the eyes, "You can do this. You're not a complete rookie. And," he nodded to the glass, "I'll be right here in case you do screw it up!"_

_Martin shot his supervisor a quick grin and moved to the door. He squared up his shoulders and began his first solo interrogation of a murderer. "So, Leon, how are you?" Martin inwardly winced at his lame opening._

"_How the fuck do you think I'm doin'? I've been here for an hour, nobody's told me jack shit, I'm hungry and I'm chained up like a dog," Leon made the wrist cuffs jangle. "So, whacha want?"_

_Martin pulled out a pen, clicking it and poising his hand above a pad of paper, "Just the truth," he asked nonchalantly. "Let's start with how did you know Melanie Bates?"_

"_Melanie who? Sorry, bub, I don't know who you're talkin' about," Leon tipped back in the chair and seemed to make himself more comfortable._

/End flashback/

_10 hours missing_

Samantha strained to hear what was going on around her behind the dark blindfold. It had been quiet for the last hour or so. She wished something would happen, anything to take her mind off the nagging body parts she couldn't do anything about. Her hands had gone numb a while ago. And there was an itch on her nose that begged to be scratched! She tried to rub her nose on her shoulder, but two of the knives he had thrown earlier prevented her from moving her head to either side.

Suddenly she heard approaching footsteps. _He_ was back and put a heavy box down near her and rummaged around in it. He climbed onto a wooden box and leaned closer—she could smell stale beer on his breath. He spoke in that same harsh whisper, "I'll just pop this new tape into the camera. Won't Martin love to see you again?" A minute or two later she felt the cool swab of something (alcohol? her mind registered a possibility) on her inner arm and a barely audible whisper said, "I know you told me you and Martin are just friends, but are you really?" She felt a needle being inserted into her arm and the dizzying warmth that spread from whatever he had just injected her with.


	3. Wild Goose Chase

Disclaimer: So I still don't own WaT nor the characters, but the plot is all my own!

Warning of foul language—don't be offended—bad guys often swear.

CHAPTER 3 – Wild Goose Chase

_10.5 hours missing_

"Martin," Jack pulled the younger man out of his memory, "How did you get Leon to talk?"

Martin ran his fingers though his hair, "I got his friend, Patrick Sands, to come in and basically lie to Leon. Patrick told him," Martin stopped mid sentence. "Patrick! Of course, how dumb could I be? Patrick wasn't just Leon's friend, it turns out they were lovers too. And I got Patrick to roll on Leon because Patrick was jealous of the women Leon would sleep with. Leon couldn't make up his mind which team he wanted to play for. How stupid could I be?!"

Danny lay a hand on Martin's shoulder, "Don't be so hard on yourself, man. You've done great by getting this far! Is Leon out? What would he do and where would he go?"

"I don't know if he's out…I'll have to check, but there's an old ranch upstate that belonged to Leon's grandfather or somebody. Patrick said they went there for their trysts," Martin began thumbing though the papers looking for the address.

Jack looked over Martin's shoulder and noted the address, "Martin, why don't you and Elena head up there? We'll keep searching on this end and check on Leon's residential status," Jack shot Elena a look that said, 'keep him occupied and under control.' She nodded at his unspoken command and grabbed her coat and purse, "Come on, Martin, let's beat the traffic."

_13 hours missing_

Danny signed for a small package and walked back to the tech room, opening it as he moved. There was no return label, simple block printing in black ballpoint addressed the packaged to the entire missing persons unit and inside was an unmarked DVD. Danny reached the tech room and popped the disk into the waiting machine. His heart contracted as the simple home video began to play, the focus going in and out as who ever was working the camera zoomed in on a pale and still blindfolded Samantha Spade. Danny could hear the man behind the camera ask Sam a question in a harsh whisper, "Tell me, do you love Martin Fitzgerald?"

_15 hours missing_

Elena and Martin stepped off the elevator and headed straight for the bullpen. Jack and the rest of the team were wearily going over notes and checking phone records and credit card statements. Vivian was the first to notice they were back, "Anything?"

"No one's been there in months," Elena stated, "The dust was so thick, if a mouse had been there, we'd have known."

Martin didn't say anything. What could he add? Two and a half hours wasted and they were no closer to finding her than when they had left.

Jack grabbed something off the table and approached Martin, "This came shortly after you left. We've seen it, and I know you'll want privacy. Use my office," he pressed a DVD into the other man's hand and gave him a gentle push in the right direction.

Martin took a step or two and turned, "Jack, be straight with me. Is she dead?" He had to know, didn't want to know, and feared knowing all in the same heartbeat.

"No. She's not dead," Jack watched as Martin released the breath he was holding. "But, she says things I think you'll want to hear, and you don't need us," he gestured to the rest of the team, "watching your every reaction."

Martin looked at the other members of the team. Danny refused to meet his gaze and Vivian gave him a look he couldn't quite decipher. What was on the disk? Only one way to find out; he nodded to Jack and headed for his office.

Jack had a small television set on the bookcase. Hannah and Kate watched movies here when they came to visit. On rare occasions, the team watched Viv's home movies of Reggie playing basketball or Jack's amateur attempts to capture Kate's dance recital, and, on one special occasion, Elena shared a short movie Gracie made of the two of them making cookies. Martin ran a hand over the screen to clear the dust and put the disk into the slot. He grabbed the remote and hit play.


	4. The Video

Disclaimer: So I still don't own WaT nor the characters, but the plot is all my own!

Thanks for the reviews! Please keep them coming!

CHAPTER 4 – The Video

A.N. Of course Martin reacts to what he's watching! Didn't want to leave out that part, hence Martin's musings…

_15 hours missing_

The initial image was grainy and full of static. Then the picture cleared and Martin could see one of the yellow panels of the wheel Sam was tied to. Suddenly the camera swung upwards and Martin could see Sam's face. Then the camera pulled back and he watched a man insert a needle into her arm. He couldn't hear what he whispered to her but less than a minute after he injected her, he saw Sam become flushed and sweaty and she seemed to have trouble holding her head up. His heart lurched to see her this way. The camera tightened focus on Sam's face and he heard the harsh whisper of her capturer, "Tell me, do you love Martin Fitzgerald?"

"I-I," Samantha began, she wanted to lie to this monster. She knew that if she told the truth, Martin would suffer. She opened her mouth to say no, "Yes, I love him." Curse whatever drug he had injected her with!

_Martin closed his eyes. The creep had to have injected her with a truth serum. _

"Tell me about what you love about him," the harsh whisper came from behind the camera and Samantha had no control over her mouth.

_Martin leaned forward, they had talked about how they loved each other, but he never heard Samantha express just what it was about him she loved. His curiosity overruled his concern—momentarily._

"His eyes. They're expressive and warm and wonderful and they crinkle at the corners when he smiles," she smiled at a memory, seeing his eyes in her mind.

_Martin smiled in spite of himself. Without thinking, his hand strayed to his temple and he felt the "crinkles" she lovingly described. _

"What else?" prompted the voice.

"The dimples. When he smiles, when he laughs…" she let her voice trail off, hoping she could feign sleepiness. She let her head droop.

_Martin's concern flew back—was the drug too powerful? _

"Don't stop now, darlin'!"

The drug made her open her mouth and let her heart pour out. She told the voice all about Martin's selflessness when she wanted to stay in—even though he wanted to go out. And how he put up with her wanting to keep their relationship a secret, yet she knew that everyone on the team already knew anyway. She talked about their days together and how she missed their intimate talks. She mentioned all the ways he made her feel special and loved and how even a single look from him was all she had needed. Her throat went dry and she coughed.

"Tsk tsk, we can't have our lead actress suffer dry throat," he shuffled towards her and held a straw up to her lips, "Drink!"

Samantha gratefully drank as much of the water as she could. The rational part of her brain registered the fact that she was still tied up and probably would be for quite some time, but her body craved the liquid. Taking a large gulp, she felt the straw jerked out of her mouth.

"Enough drinking, tell me why you and Martin broke up!" demanded the harsh whisper.

"Why we broke up?" she stalled for time. She knew exactly why. Could she wait out the drug's effects and not have to say the words aloud?

A knife whizzed past the lens of the camera and spun towards Samantha. It impaled itself inches from her hand and she felt the thud of the impact. "Next time, it goes in that hand! Why did you break up!?" the harsh whisper wasn't buying the act.

"_Shit!" Martin cursed aloud at the nearness of the blade. He had half a mind to stop the disk now and resume searching for her. But he also wanted to know what she said and knew he couldn't face Jack, Vivian or Danny without seeing the end. He leaned forward to catch her whispered answer._

"It was all my fault," Sam began, "Martin wanted to let our relationship go public. I didn't. I couldn't. How would it look for a woman—a young woman—to have slept first with her superior and then a co-worker who just happens to be the son of the Deputy Director of the Bureau? I just couldn't take the chance," she paused. "I've thought a lot about our relationship since then. Martin isn't like any other man that has ever been in my life. I didn't know what to do or how to react to the way he treated me," she felt a tear roll from under the blindfold and down her cheek. "It was all my fault! I'm so sorry Martin! I'm so sorry! Oh, Martin, I'm so sorry!" she cried.

_Martin felt a tear slide down his own cheek. He had known her past was partly to blame for their breakup, but was it completely to blame? He thought about how forcefully he pushed her away when she (finally) decided to go to his cousin's wedding. Was it partly his fault too? He brushed the tear off his cheek and vowed to make things right with Sam if—no, when—they found her._

The disk continued, "But do you still love him?" asked the voice.

Samantha nodded and whispered, "Yes."

"Good! Then this will hurt him more!" He quietly moved from around the camera and grabbed an edge of the wheel and gave it a pull like he was a contestant on "The Price is Right."

Without warning Samantha felt her world spin. A scream tore itself from her throat, "Martin!"


	5. Spinning Wheels

Disclaimer: So I still don't own WaT nor the characters, but the plot is all my own!

Warning for language content.

Thanks for the reviews! I love reviews! Please keep them coming! How's it reading???

CHAPTER 5 - Spinning Wheels

_15.5 hours missing_

Martin held his head as he watched the wheel spin and spin. He was almost sick himself and he wasn't on the damn thing. The wheel began to spin slower and without warning, the image went dark. His breath caught, was that all?

"Don't worry, lover-boy! I'll keep her safe," the harsh whisper called out from the dark screen. And with those words static once again filled the screen.

Without conscious thought, Martin ejected the disk and turned off the set. He carefully put the disk back into its case and started for his desk. He purposefully set the disk on his desktop and started to reach for his file on Leon Towers when the phone rang.

"Fitzgerald."

"Martin? It's Tava. I got that info you need."

Martin smiled in spite of the situation and pushed all thoughts of Sam out of his mind to concentrate on what she was telling him. Tava Jeffries was one of the best agents he had worked with in Seattle. "Tava! Good to hear your voice. What have you got?"

"Rusty Soltay moved to Alaska two weeks after his house flooded. I just got off the phone with the Fairbanks office and they said he was killed in a small plane crash almost three months ago," Tava paused and carefully asked her next question. "Martin, why is Rusty so important?"

Martin sighed, "Actually, now that I know this, he's not important at all. I've got someone here yanking my chain and I was looking for possible suspects. The case with Charlie and Rusty popped up as a possible, but I didn't know where to find Rusty. Thanks for getting back to me so quickly, Tava."

He heard the smile in her voice, "Anytime Martin, you know that. Call me next time you're coming this way, all right?"

"Sure Tava. And thanks again." Martin hung up the phone, picked up his file and headed towards the bullpen.

Jack was adding something to the DOD board. '11:32am - Speed-E Delivery contracted to deliver DVD – cash – no id on buyer.' He turned to find Martin staring at the board, "You ok?" he asked the younger agent. The DVD had shaken _him_, and his relationship with Samantha had ended years ago, not mere months ago.

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, Jack," Martin pulled out the notes he had just written, "Tava Jeffries just called me from Seattle. The Soltay case is out of contention. Charlie's still in jail and Rusty's dead."

Danny, Viv and Elena watched this exchange and then glanced at each other. Martin was in shock. The other three had given Elena chapter and verse as to what was on the disk and she was just as shaken to hear what Samantha had been forced to say as if she had witnessed it first hand. But despite their personal feelings, they had a missing person to find.

Viv stood up to add her news to the case, "I received word from Warden Lewis at Elmira. Ray Ashlem's still an inmate and after a brief phone interview I'm happy to say that he holds no resentment on your part, Martin. He seems to feel that it was his time to get caught and the only person he seems to blame, is himself."

Martin just nodded at this news. What else could he do? Every time he closed his eyes he saw her spinning on that wheel and he could still hear her scream his name.

Danny had also been busy in the time Martin and Elena had driven to the ranch. "I've got news too." He grabbed a folder and checked his facts, "Leon Towers was released from Dannamora two weeks ago. His Parole Officer says he's moved into a halfway house near Essex and Rivington and has a job at a movie theater a couple of blocks from there. He'd never missed a curfew until three nights ago and then no one's seen him there since. He hasn't shown up for work in four days," Danny paused and checked the phone records. "The call that got Sam out of her apartment was traced back to a disposable cell phone that pinged off a tower in the Lower East Side."

"Did we find the cell?" Jack asked.

"Yep. NYPD found it in a dumpster half a block from the halfway house. It had been wiped clean—no prints," Danny checked his file once more. "And, Leon left everything in his room. Wallet, keys, theater id, the whole shebang."

Vivian asked, "So, we have _two_ missing people?"

Jack shook his head, "No. Our first priority is to Samantha. If we figure out what happened to Leon along the way, so be it."

"So what do we do now?" Martin asked forlornly. "I mean if Leon is missing he probably has her. So where do we look?"

Danny reached over and gave Martin a one-armed hug, "I had an idea."


	6. The Other Guy

Disclaimer: So I still don't own WaT nor the characters, but the plot is all my own!

Thanks for the reviews! I love reviews! Please keep them coming! How's it reading???

CHAPTER 6 – The Other Guy

_16 hours missing_

"I checked on Patrick Sands. Just to see where he's been and what he's been up to," Danny began and thumbed through his notes. "He went to visit Towers just three times in the eight years Towers was incarcerated. The first time was just after his sentencing. The second about three weeks after that and the last visit was six weeks into Towers' sentence. After that, no contact between the two. No phone calls, no letters, no visits—nothing."

Jack fiddled with a marker, "So what happened? Is Sands dead?"

Danny shook his head, "Nope. We found a letter from Towers to Sands in Towers' room at the halfway house and it was returned to Towers unopened," Danny pulled out a crumpled letter sealed in an evidence bag. "It turns out that Towers dumped Sands during that third visit. Said 'the entire affair had been a mistake' and goes on to say that Towers didn't want Sands to waste his time waiting around like some 'jail floozy,'" Danny arched an eyebrow and added, "His words!"

Viv and Elena exchanged a glance and a quick grin. Jack just got impatient, "Go on, Danny."

"Uh, yeah. So, that's the jist of the letter. I'm thinking Sands took it hard. I mean, he's totally gay. None of this dancing on the fence stuff that Towers was doin' and Sands was really in love with this guy—for whatever reason. So maybe Sands finds out that Towers is getting' out and he wants revenge for his broken heart."

"So _he_ takes Sam?" Elena asked.

"Maybe. What do you think, Jack? All this time we've been chasing Towers, and Sands is having a huge laugh. We catch Towers, and Sands gets revenge," Danny proposes.

Jack nods and begins to pace, "Let's look at this. Martin, you used Sands to get at Towers, right?"

Martin looked up from the stain on the table he had been staring at ever since Danny had begun explaining his theory. "Yeah, I did. This makes sense, Jack. We've been looking at the suspects of my old cases, not the witnesses. Not the people I jerked around to get what _I_ wanted. Not the innocent people who dealt with all the fallout of my investigations," his tone had gone bitter and sarcastic.

Jack put out a hand, "Now, wait a minute Martin. We started exactly where we needed to. Don't blame yourse-."

"Who do you propose I _do_ blame?" Martin nearly shouted.

Vivian came up quietly next to Martin, "You blame exactly who needs to be blamed, Leon Towers and Patrick Sands. _They_ made this situation what it is and _they_ are to blame for kidnapping Samantha and putting her in danger. Not you, Martin. Never forget that. This isn't your fault!" She finished by putting her hand on the younger agent's arm and giving it a gentle squeeze. "So," she turned towards Danny, "where is Patrick Sands now? Where does he work? Live? Hang out with?"

Danny shrugged, "I have an address in Queens, but for the rest, I hadn't gotten that far, Viv."

Elena caught Danny's eye, "I'll get started on his phone records."

Jack gave the rest of the team directions, "Good, Danny, check out his employment history. Viv, I want you and Martin to check out his living situation and I'll get a warrant to search it just as fast as I can," he caught Martin's eye, "We'll find her, Martin. Don't lose it yet."

What else could he do? Martin gave himself a mental shake and nodded to Jack as he grabbed his coat headed towards the elevators, Vivian right beside him. Thank god for Viv. She was the voice of calm and reason. She knew how he had to be hurting and didn't push for conversation. She did, however, grab the keys, "I'm driving, kid!"


	7. No One's Home

Disclaimer: So I still don't own WaT nor the characters, but the plot is all my own!

Thanks for the reviews! I love reviews! Please keep them coming! How's it reading???

Sorry this is a short chapter—but the end is near!!

CHAPTER 7 – No One's Home

_16.5 hours missing_

Vivian pulled up to a rundown, weather-beaten lump of a house. She checked her notebook and peered at the numbers nailed to the house, shading her eyes from the setting sun, "This is the place. What a dump!" She shut off the engine and checked her weapon as she got out of the car.

Martin did the same and pulled an FBI jacket from the back seat, "We're squared with the warrant, right?"

Viv nodded, "Yep, Jack has a way with lawyers. OK, by the book. I'll go knock, but it doesn't look like anyone's home." She led the way to the front door. Martin held back at the foot of the short staircase leading to the front door. Vivian knocked loudly. No answer. She knocked again and nodded at Martin.

"FBI! Open up!" Martin shouted from his position. There still was no answer. Just to be safe, Martin shouted once more, "Open the door, FBI!" Again, no answer.

Vivian repositioned herself and gave the door a kick. It swung open to reveal a very dirty living room and a peek at the kitchen beyond. Martin took the steps in a leap and began checking the house. Only once he and Vivian had cleared the entire house and back yard did they holster their weapons and return to the living room.

"He certainly isn't much of a housekeeper, is he?" Vivian remarked.

Martin shook his head, "Nope, and he doesn't pay his bills either." Martin held up a stack of papers marked "Past Due." He couldn't find any papers that might tell them where Sands worked—or had worked, for that matter. He _did_ find a receipt for a 'U-Store-It' unit, paid in full for one year, beginning last month. It was a medium-sized unit, 10 feet by 15 feet, according to the receipt. It looked promising, "Viv, check this out!" He showed her the receipt.

Vivian took the receipt and checked the address, "This is back in the Lower East Side. Martin, it's all starting to fit. Call Jack on the way and have him get started on another search warrant. Let's go find her."

_17.8 hours missing_

Vivian and Martin made their way quickly to the bullpen. Why Jack had them come back to the office, he wasn't sure. Sam was in that storage building. She had to be. And this was just wasting time! "Jack, why are we back here? It's been almost 18 hours! Why di-?"

Jack held up his hand to stop Martin's barrage, "I know, I know. I'm waiting for the warrants to come down and then we're all going."

"Warrants? Why more than one?" Vivian asked.

Danny spoke up, "Patrick Sands worked for the Eldridge Street Warehouse. He was laid off three weeks ago for stealing, _and_ the warehouse has been closed for more than a week due to a minor flooding problem."

Vivian exchanged a wry grin with Jack and Martin, "At least he sticks to one area of town!"

"I've got them!" Elena waved a folder in each hand, "Careful Jack, the ink's still wet!"

Jack took one of the folders and checked the contents, then passing the folder to Danny, gave instructions to his team, "Right. Elena, you and Viv head to the storage facility, Martin and Danny will check out the warehouse, and I'll wait near Seward Park, backup for either team. Any questions? Good! Let's go!"


	8. Meanwhile

**Disclaimer: So I still don't own WaT nor the characters, but the plot is all my own!**

**Thanks for the reviews! I love reviews! Please keep them coming! How's it reading???**

**Warning for language content.**

**Short chapter alert!! But you wanted to know what Sam was up to—right??**

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CHAPTER 8 – Meanwhile

_17.5 hours missing (A.N. - yep, back in time. You know the line, "Meanwhile, on the other side of the jungle…")_

Samantha had lost feeling in her arms several hours ago. From her perspective, the only things holding her to the blasted wheel and upright was the rope around her chest and the small platform her heels rested on. She vaguely remembered the ropes at her wrists, but all memory of that sensation left sometime after _he_ made her talk about Martin.

She sighed quietly. Patrick – _he_ had forced her to give voice to all the feelings Samantha thought she had so carefully hidden from the rest of the world. No doubt the rest of the team had seen the tape as well, so her secret was well and truly out. Sam _had_ caught Martin staring at her again lately. Could he have hidden his feelings as well? There was only one way to find out—she had to get off this damn wheel. She reviewed the day's events slowly, looking for anything that might help her cause.

Not once did she ever see his face in her garage all those hours ago and he had never removed the blindfold. When he pushed her into the small bathroom and forced her to change, he made sure she put the blindfold back on before he opened the door. So she couldn't identify his face in open court. Positive voice identification could too easily be argued since all she ever heard was a whisper. He'd _never_ be convicted of this crime. Having figured that all out, Samantha decided to plead her case.

"Hey!" she called out. "Are you there?"

"What do you want?" the harsh whisper came from her left.

"Haven't _you_ had enough? I know I have. Untie me from this thing and let me go. I don't know what you look like, and you've never used anything but a whisper, so I can't even identify your voice. What do you say?" It did sound a bit like begging, but Samantha didn't know how much longer she could maintain her composure.

The voice came from the right this time, "I say 'no.' I'm not done with Fitzgerald, so I'm not done with you."

"But what about that tape we made? Wasn't that enough? I haven't told Martin I love him in so long, that has got to be haunting him. He's suffering; I know he is! Isn't that enough?" Samantha knew she was really begging this time, but couldn't stop herself. "I mean, isn't Martin's mental anguish giving you a laugh? Isn't the fact that you've got him running through his entire life to find you enough? What about Leo—"

"What about you stop your bitchin'? No, you won't stop; will you?" the voice sighed and came closer.

Samantha heard him step up and felt his hand force open her mouth. She felt cloth against her tongue.

"There, now you don't have to wear me out with your whining," he tightened the cloth a bit more. "Just be glad I used my clean handkerchief."


	9. No Luck

**Disclaimer: So I still don't own WaT nor the characters, but the plot is all my own!**

**Thanks for the reviews! I love reviews! Please keep them coming! **

**SUPER short chapter alert!! **

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CHAPTER 9 – No Luck

_18.2 hours missing (U-Store-It)_

Vivian motioned to the NYPD officer to remove the lock from the storage unit. Her gun was at the ready and Elena was just opposite her and just as ready. Once the lock was removed, she nodded to the officer again and he raised the door with one swift motion.

Elena was sweeping the right side of the unit with a flashlight, there were boxes everywhere, creating a maze of hiding places. "Samantha? Can you hear me?" Elena called out, beginning to move through the maze.

"Sam?" Vivian headed in the opposite direction from Elena, moving through her half of the maze. Her light caught something on the floor—it was blood. "Elena! Over here!" Vivian steeled herself for what she might see and rounded the corner. A cry of relief escaped her lips—it wasn't Samantha. Elena peered around Viv and shone her light on the figure crumpled on the floor, "I think we found Leon Towers."

Vivian called for Jack and a Medical Examiner. When Jack got there, he took a look at Leon, "Less than 24 hours, wouldn't you say?"

"That's what I thought too, but we'll have to wait for the ME to be 100 percent certain. Any word from the boys?" Vivian asked.


	10. Got Her

**Disclaimer: So I still don't own WaT nor the characters, but the plot is all my own!**

**WHATCHASAY1N –sorry for the short chapter – hope this makes up for it!!**

**Standofffan – thanks for your loyal reading!!**

**Saturn567 & twinmuse (Colly E.) - thanks!**

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CHAPTER 10 – Got Her

_18.2 hours missing (Eldridge Street Warehouse)_

Danny checked the building. It was dark and the warehouse's only means of security was a small security camera over the door, a keypad on that door and a sign that announced that all the windows were alarmed. "I kept my baseball cards better protected," Danny muttered. "Hey Martin, what do you say we clean out this joint and then sell them their own stuff back at triple the going rate? What do you think?" He was trying to lighten the mood, going into a building like this tense would do neither of them any good.

"I think you're crazy, Danny. Besides, how can we open a shoe store if we're in the joint?" Martin gave his partner a grin. He knew Danny was only trying to calm him down and he appreciated it. "Shall we?"

"After you, partner."

Martin entered the code the owners had given them and eased the door open. The two men slipped inside and quietly closed the door behind them. Martin motioned to Danny to head left, he was going right. Martin was halfway around the building when he saw a light coming from an interior room against the back wall of the warehouse. The light barely penetrated the multitude of boxes that surrounded what was probably an office area. He quietly radioed Danny he found something and eased closer to the door. He could see inside the room now and he could see Patrick Sands reach for a throwing knife. Martin couldn't see Samantha, but from where Patrick threw the knife, he knew she had to be against the far wall. He turned his head in time to see Danny coming.

"Patrick's just inside and Sam has to be back towards the wall," Martin quietly filled Danny in. "And he's throwing knives again."

"Jack, Vivian and Elena are on their way. Do we wait?" Danny asked.

Martin was about to say 'yes' when he heard a muffled scream. They looked at each other and at the same time said, "No."

The two eased their way to the open door. Danny mouthed "one, two, three" and they entered the room with guns leveled. "FBI! Freeze!" Danny shouted. Martin was on his heels, "On your knees, Sands! Now!"

Danny kept his gun trained on Sands. Not trusting the man to do what he was told, he added, "Down on the floor!"

Martin watched the man he had cajoled into trapping his lover slowly sink to his knees. "Put your hands behind your head!" Sands complied, never taking his eyes from Martin.

Danny stepped behind Sands and snapped the cuffs tightly against his skin. Only once Patrick Sands had been secured did the two men look for Samantha.

Martin gulped and holstered his gun. They must have startled Sands when they burst into the room for the last knife Martin had seen in his hand was now impaled in Samantha's side. He ran the few steps towards her and reached up to remove the gag, "Sam?"

"Martin? Oh, god, this hurts!" she whimpered a little. "Get me down, please?"

Just as Martin was going to ask Danny for help, he heard the rest of the team. Martin kept a hand on Samantha so she would know he was still there. He turned to see Jack and Elena take control of Sands so he called out, "Hey, Danny! Come give me a hand here!"

Martin reached up with both hands and grasped Samantha under each arm, supporting her weight. Danny jumped up onto the wood box that was next to the wheel. "Do you want me to take this thing off?" he asked Samantha about the blindfold.

She nodded and then cried out when the light hit her eyes, "Too bright!"

Danny reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his sunglasses. He gently put them on her and asked, "Better?"

Squinting behind the glasses, she nodded, "Thanks."

"No problem! I think I'll just use one of these knives to get you down, ok?" Danny reached for a knife and yanked it out of the wheel. He made quick work of the ropes on her wrists, cutting the rope at her ankles when he went from the left to the right.

Her arms fell like dead weight and Sam felt the muscles in her neck relax. She was looking only at Martin. He looked tired and worried. She hated being the cause of such fuss, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Martin just shook his head, "Nothing to be sorry for. This wasn't your fault." He would have continued, but Danny caught his attention.

"All I've got left is this rope here," he indicated the rope around her chest, "but the knife…"

Martin tilted his head to see what Danny was pointing to. The knife that had hit Sam was imbedded a good two inches into the wood. Getting it out, without hurting Sam, was going to be next to impossible. "Get Viv over here," Martin suggested.

Danny didn't make the connection for a few seconds, then he nodded, "Hey Viv! We could use another set of hands!"

Martin was sweating on the inside, but he knew he had to keep Sam calm. He swallowed his fear and began explaining what was going to happen next, "Viv, grab the knife, but don't pull. Danny, on the count of three, I want you to cut the rope," he looked deep into Samantha's eyes, "We're going to do this quick, ok?"

She nodded. Her complete faith in him shone in her eyes, she knew he wouldn't hurt her on purpose. "I'm ready."

Martin began, "One, two…" And with that, she was free. Martin gently lowered her to the floor, cradling her upper body against him. One of her arms fell behind him, but she was free of the wheel.

Samantha winced and looked up at Martin, "What happened to 'three'?"

He had the decency to look embarrassed, "You were starting to tense. I didn't think you'd make it to three."

"Oh." It made sense. Tense muscles would cause more pain than relaxed ones. Sam was tired. She knew she had to say something to him, but forming complete thoughts was a bit of a challenge. She remembered something she wanted to tell him, "Martin, I-"

He watched her face intently. He could see her going after a thought. Whatever she had to tell him, could wait. All he wanted was to hold her and let her know it was going to be all right. He stopped her by putting a finger over her lips, "Shh. It's ok. You can tell me later."

Damn him! Once she got started, she didn't want to stop, "But, Martin, I—Ahhh!" Her body interrupted her speech this time by betraying her with pain. Her back arched and she cried out again.

Martin looked at Danny and Viv, then back at Sam, "What? What's wrong?"

"My…my…my arms," she managed to get the words out.

Vivian grabbed her left arm and began gently massaging it, "Pins and needles? Probably the worst case you've ever had, right?" Her ministrations brought the blood back to her abused limb and the pain lessened. "Reggie fell asleep last week on the floor of the living room. Funniest thing I had seen him do in a long time. But his hand was pinned under his hip the whole time. I had to do this for him too."

Danny watched Vivian for a moment and then went behind Martin to start on Sam's right arm.

After a few moments, Samantha's back relaxed and she slumped back into Martin's arms. "Thanks," she whispered and let her eyes close.

Danny hated seeing her in such a state and decided to lighten the mood, "Gee, uh, Sam. I, uh, never figured you as the pink sequin type." He was rewarded by three glaring sets of eyes, one behind his own sunglasses.

"Danny, if I could lift my arms, I'd slug you!" Samantha growled at him.

"What, like this?" Vivian demonstrated a well-placed punch to his upper arm.

"Ouch!" Danny rubbed the spot gingerly.

"You had that coming, man! Didn't _you_ warn _me_ that she's got a temper?" Martin asked.

"Which one was I warning you about?" he replied.

But before Danny could get an answer he heard Jack, "Paramedics are here."

Martin and Danny carefully lifted Sam onto the stretcher and Martin grabbed her hand as they made their way out of the warehouse.


	11. Recovery

**Disclaimer: So I still don't own WaT nor the characters, but the plot is all my own!**

**twinmuse (Colly E.) - not too much damage…**

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CHAPTER 11 - Recovery

Martin watched her sleep. He had taken the day off and wasn't leaving her side, ever again, if he had anything to say about the situation. He reviewed what the doctor told him about her condition: a severe case of dehydration, 27 internal stitches and 24 external ones. About two weeks healing time, and she'd be as good as new. He could even take her home, _if_ she promised to lie still and only move if absolutely necessary for the next two days. He argued that point with the doctor for her—he knew how much she loved staying in the hospital. Now, all he had to do was wait for her to wake up.

He saw her eyelids start to flutter open. He stood next to her and called softly, "Sam?"

"Martin?" she asked without opening her eyes.

He nodded, even though she wasn't looking at him, "Yeah, it's me. You're safe." He stroked her cheek and brushed the hair off her face. "I'm right here."

She opened her eyes to look at him. She remembered what she tried to tell him in the warehouse, "I heard him kill Leon. They, uh, they were arguing and Leon was telling Patrick to quit harassing him. That he didn't love Patrick any more, and that's when I heard the knives. They hum in the air, did you know?" she paused, remembering something else, "You know, it wasn't until Leon came to the warehouse that I even learned Patrick's name. _He_ never told me. And then he went away. I don't know for how long, but…"

"It's ok, Sam. We found Leon. Viv and Elena found him in Sands' storage unit about eight blocks from the warehouse," Martin continued to stroke her face and run his fingers though her hair. He decided to change the topic, "Danny says he's got a bruise that's turning purple and it's all your fault!"

She smiled, "Then he shouldn't have insulted my outfit. Serves him right."

They continued to stare at each other for several minutes. They were so focused on each other they didn't notice the nurse who poked her head in and then changed her mind.

Sam decided to break the silence first, whispering, "Martin? You saw the tape, right?" she bit her lower lip.

He stopped running his fingers in her hair and caught her mood, "Yeah. I did."

"I-I know you're here and all and I just can't help wondering," she brought her hand up to his cheek. "We haven't said anything like that in months, but it is true. I still love you." There, she had said it—and not under the influence of any drug.

"Ah, Sam. I-" Martin began nervously.

She pulled her hand down, "It's ok. You don't have to lie to me, Martin." She turned her head.

Crap! She was taking this all wrong. He put his finger under her chin and forced her to look at him, "No, you don't get it, Sam. I'm just nervous. You're right. We haven't talked about our feelings in a long time," he paused to catch his breath. His relationship with Sam sometimes felt like running a marathon. He traced the outline of her lips, "I still love you, too."

Danny, Elena and Vivian stopped by to see Samantha. Vivian led the little parade and stopped short after barely opening the door.

"Hey, Viv, what's the deal? Danny asked.

She smiled, "Nothing, I just don't think they need any interruption right now."

Fin.

&&&&&

Or is it???

Stay tuned for the epilogue!!


	12. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: So I still don't own WaT nor the characters, but the plot is all my own!**

**Thanks for all the reviews while the story was in-process!!**

**Special thanks to Tey who reads everything and keeps my tenses straight!!**

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EPILOGUE

About 10 years later.

It was a lovely sunny Sunday morning. Martin was still sweaty from his run in the crisp early October air, but was enjoying the quiet of the paper, his cup of coffee and being surrounded by his family. Samantha was working on the crossword puzzle and their eight-year-old, Brandon, was looking though the colorful weekend ads.

"Hey Mom! I know what I want to be for Halloween!" Brandon held up the ad and pointed, "I want to be a magician! Abby can be my bunny, Daddy can be the MC and you can be my assistant!"

Samantha looked up at the ad and paled. The assistant's costume was pink-sequined. She swallowed, "I think I'll check on Abby. She's been too quiet." Getting up from the table, she shot Martin a look, 'Take care of this, please!'

Martin gave her an encouraging smile and turned to his son, "Let's look at that." He pulled Brandon onto his lap and looked at the ad—pink sequins all right. He scratched his chin, wondering how to explain this to an eight-year-old. "Hey, Brandon, remember what Mom and I do for work?"

He nodded, "Yep! You and Mom work for the FBI. You catch guys who write bad checks and Mommy finds lost people."

A little simplified, especially about his job in White Collar Crimes, but hey, it worked from Brandon's perspective. "That's right. And do you remember how your mom and I met?"

Brandon giggled, "Of course, you and Mommy both found lost people."

"Right. And sometimes, our jobs get a little scary, remember?" Martin was leading up to Sands incident slowly.

Brandon nodded, "Yeah, like last summer you couldn't go swimming for a long time."

Martin smiled, "Broken arms suck, don't they!" He took a sip of coffee to stall for time, "So, one time, there was a bad guy that I made mad. Really mad."

"Like the time I broke your watch?" Brandon asked.

"No, I think I actually made him madder," Martin answered.

"Wow! He must have been really mad, Dad."

Martin nodded, "Yep. And to show me how mad he was, he took your mom from her house and made her dress up in a costume a lot like this one," he tapped the ad for emphasis. "So, I don't think that Mom's too wild about being a magician's assistant for Halloween, buddy."

Samantha had been standing in the hallway listening to Martin explain what had happened and thought he did a really good job, too. Hearing him come to the end of the tale, she thought now would be a good time for suggestions. So she rounded the corner, "I agree with Dad, no magicians this year. Besides," indicating to the toddler on her hip who had found Sam's make-up drawer, "I think Abby has a much better idea, don't you?" she tickled the little girl and was rewarded with giggles and a kiss that left a huge lipstick mark on her cheek.

Martin looked at Sam, their daughter and then down at his son, "Well, what do you say, Brandon, shall we be clowns this year?"


End file.
